The final chapter. Wow, I can hardly believe it's done. The pace definitely sped up in the last few chapters. I have to say that I'm glad that Kali ended with Dante. It would have felt dirty if she'd ended up with Jason, so this was much better. I have to say that, since as a reader I didn't get to see a whole lot of Dante and Kali interacting in person so the final proposal was a bit overwhelming as a result; a little like BAM, and they're together again. Which, given the sense of restraint and suppressed emotion that you cultivated with the rest of the story's narrative caught me a little off guard. I wonder how it would feel if you were to write a version of the ending where they meet and there's definitely the feeling that they'll eventually follow through with their relationship even though we as the readers wouldn't see it. Hmm. Anyway, just kind of thinking out loud. Overall, I liked it and it definitely has a lot of good drama and writing.

Okay, yeah, so I've been gone for freaking ever; and now I return with such a miserably disappointing review that basically consists of: I don't know what's going on. I need to keep reading. Of course, the not knowing what's going on isn't necessarily a bad thing as it's making want to know more.

[The words were cunning and ripped into her painfully. She licked her lips and tried to swallow the pain flashing before her eyes, trying to tell herself that she was just overreacting, seeing more to this than there was. She whispered consoling words to herself, hushing the tears into shame, and bit her tongue gently.] - this just makes me want to hate him so much, because if he's truly manipulating her like this then he's a real piece of work.

It's amazing to me that just in one conversation you can make me swing back and forth between hating Dante and buying into his words along with Kali.

Wow, he's going all out for the weekend thing. Either he really loves her or is feeling guilty for something. Or maybe the boy/kid has something to do with it. It's very hard to tell with this...

You know, Kali is in desperate need of an identity apart from Dante. I've seen this happen to people before and sometimes it seems like love and incredibly romantic, but it can really be emotionally unhealthy and destructive. By wrapping up her identity in him she has allowed herself to become obsessed. Like thinking about him is an addiction. You depict this very well.

It's amazing how you manage to be sympathetic and brutally honest at once. I've been close to this mindset before, so I know that you're doing a wonderful job with Kali's emotional state. And I know people who are like this perpetually and can even be this way with platonic friends: that obsessive thinking and possessiveness.

[For one moment, she surfaced from the twisted lies her friends had been feeding her and looked at him in earnest, smiled at him for the feeling she felt and not because she was programmed to do it, and for one moment, she was out of her shell.] - beautiful line.

I love this last scene because, once again, it makes me feel sympathetic toward Kali. Like I can understand how she lost her identity in him.

There's something really intriguing about Kali's emotions in this story. You've so perfectly set up the facts that it makes me suspicious of Dante without having any evidence against him. Really, truly, I can't tell if he's not being good to her or if Kali is, indeed, overreacting because she is so emotionally fragile. What's interesting to me is that the reality of the situation doesn't matter so much as exploring how Kali's feeling about it because either outcome would be interesting. Perhaps Dante is cheating on her. Or perhaps Kali is slipping into a sort of deep depression that makes her lose touch with reality a bit and focus all that insecurity on Dante. I don't know what the truth is in this situation but you're consistent with how you describe reality as Kali perceives it (at least, so far) and that makes me want to read on and trust that you're going to take me somewhere worthwhile with this.